You can now launch Oracle Database Standard Edition Two (SE2) instances under the Bring Your Own License (“BYOL”) licensing model as well as take advantage of Oracle 12c and 11g October 2015 Oracle Patch Set Updates (PSU).

On September 1st, 2015, Oracle announced that a new edition, Standard Edition Two (SE2), will eventually replace two existing editions Standard Edition (SE) and Standard Edition One (SE1). Oracle will continue providing full patching support including Quarterly Patch Set Updates (PSU) and Critical Patch Updates (CPU) for the 11.2.0.4 version of Oracle until December 31, 2020. Oracle will also continue providing full patching support including Quarterly PSU and CPU for the 12.1.0.1 version until August 31, 2016, however, 12.1.0.1 will be the final version that Oracle will produce for SE and SE1 editions. You can now use Amazon RDS for Oracle’s new SE2 offering, available with the latest "12.1.0.2.v2" version, to start evaluating your licensed Oracle Database SE2.

The Amazon RDS for Oracle 12c and 11g database versions "12.1.0.2.v2", "12.1.0.1.v3", and "11.2.0.4.v5" include the October 2015 PSU as well as the July 2015 PSU and the latest Daylight Saving Time patch. The new Amazon RDS for Oracle database version “11.2.0.3.v4” includes the July 2015 Oracle PSU, the final PSU for Oracle 11.2.0.3.

To create a new Oracle "12.1.0.2.v2", "12.1.0.1.v3", "11.2.0.4.v5", and "11.2.0.3.v4" DB instance with just a few clicks, use the "Launch DB Instance Wizard" in the AWS Management Console and select the appropriate DB engine version. To upgrade an existing database instance, use the "Modify" option in the AWS Management Console. Before you upgrade a production database instance, we recommend that you test the upgrade process with a test DB instance to verify the duration of the upgrade process as well as test your application with the new DB engine version. Note that upgrading t1.micro DB instances may take an extended period of time and impact database performance during the upgrade. As a reminder, you must have a valid Oracle Database SE2 license with “Software Update License & Support” to use Amazon RDS for Oracle SE2 under the BYOL licensing model.